Harry Potter and the Dials of Time
by DalkonCledwin
Summary: Harry discovers a secret room in the ruins of Hogwarts that holds the Magical Worlds greatest secret. What will he do with such powers?
1. The Dials of Time

Disclaimer — The World of Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and various publishers, the Films are owned by Warner Brothers Studio's. I make no claim to ownership of these properties. I am merely playing in their backyard whilst I get these ideas out of my head. Please note, I am an American, I do not have a full grasp of British Slang, and will very likely not be able to do justice to it.

* * *

It had been ten years since the Battle of Hogwarts. It took five of those years to finally destroy the last Horcrux and defeat Tom. It took another four years to route the remaining Death Eaters. When all is said and done the cost in lives, both Muggle and Wizard alike, was simply too high. At last measurement over 20.9 million people were dead; the largest part of the dead were Wizarding Folk. Between the Fiendfyre and other Curses of Mass Destruction (CoMD's) that the Death Eaters unleashed on unsuspecting populations, it was a wonder anyone was left to fight them at all.

It ultimately took a coalition force made up of Wizards from the Magical United States, Magical Greece, Magical Germany, Magical Denmark, Magical France, Magical Italy, Magical Netherlands, Magical Spain, and Magical Turkey to put down the Death Eaters entirely.

Magical Britain's government however was completely demolished. The Gringotts Main branch faired little better. And Hogwarts… Hogwarts was in ruins. The once majestic spires had crumbled. The Great Hall whose ceiling once reflected the night sky was now open to the sky. The Lake of Hogwarts drained into the Slytherin Dungeons. In fact the only parts of Hogwarts that got spared the destruction were the Headmasters Tower, which now rises as a solitary spire among so much debrit, and the Chamber of Secrets which is so far below the Castle that it couldn't even really be considered a part of the Castle.

Both the Chamber and the Headmasters Tower had certain wards on them that made them more difficult to destroy. These wards also had the side effect of preserving their contents for posterity. Though why anyone would want to keep what was in the Chamber of Secrets is anyone's guess. Then again, it was probably these wards that allowed the Basilisk to survive on almost no food in the Chamber of Secrets for around 950 years until Tom Riddle discovered it.

It was upon these remnants of Hogwarts that one Harry James Potter, sole survivor of his class in Hogwarts, last remaining member of the Order of the Phoenix looked upon. He had deconstructed the Anti-apparition wards that surrounded the castle a year ago, when it became obvious that the Castle no longer needed them. As such from his vantage point at the remnants of the hut of his first friend, Rubeus Hagrid he visualized the Chamber of Secrets and Apparated to the deepest part of the Castle.

* * *

Despite all the changes that appeared above, the Chamber of Secrets still looked the same as it did all those years ago, when he came here for the first time to rescue Ginny Weasely from the Diary Horcrux. But it was not for the remains of the Basilisk that Harry arrived here today. In his research in what was left of the Department of Mysteries, Harry discovered something peculiar in one of the documents attributed to Salazar Slytherin.

"I leave in my Chamber of Secrets, guarded by my greatest servant, the key to controlling all of history."

Harry James Potter was already the Master of Death, according to the theories about the Deathly Hallows. But what Salazar Slytherin suggested; the ability to control all of history… that promised something so great and yet at the same time so dangerous that it cannot possibly be a good thing. What made matters worse was that such a secret was right here at Hogwarts, out in the open, where just anyone could get to it now that the castle had been destroyed.

Harry had never actually seen the entire Chamber of Secrets. Yes he had seen the main room, where he fought the Basilisk. But the Basilisk had come from somewhere else, a room beyond the main room. As Harry looked up at the statue which had disgorged the Basilisk, something else struck against Harry's mind, 'Tom must have known about this, or he should have. I mean the Basilisk probably knew about it, and Tom could probably ask the Basilisk. Unless Tom didn't think about it, and the Basilisk was specifically ordered not to talk about it unless asked.' He looked at the large statues mouth. It was still open, from the time when Diary Riddle had opened it to let out the basilisk. Apparently the foolish young man who Tom was, hadn't thought to close it while Harry was fighting the Basilisk, so much the better for Harry then.

Harry apparated up to the lower lip of the Mouth and looked inside, it was dark in their so he drew his wand and flicked it while saying "Lumos Maxima" creating the bright and potentially blinding light associated with the maximized Lumos spell. Within the chamber there wasn't much to see. The room was circular. On the floor however there was what appeared to be a rather large gear driven clock. Unlike most muggle clocks however, this one appeared to account for the months, and days of a year instead of the hours and minutes of a day. On the far wall there was a plaque with some sort of inscription. Harry made his way over to it.

"Behold the Dials of Chronos, the Serpentine God of Time.  
Move these dials forward, and see the future.  
Move them backward, and see the past.  
Know however that should you wish to view these periods,  
You will be forever a part of the period to which you travel.  
Once you arrive, the dials will never operate for you again."

Harry read the plaque, as he read further along, he frowned more and more. Thinking 'Well, that probably explains why Tom never traveled this way. He'd want to be able to do it more than once. Bit of crapshoot that. Still, this offers an opportunity that I hadn't anticipated.' Harry turned on the spot and disappeared.

* * *

Harry apparated into the Headmaster's office, this room had as of late had become a second home to Harry. He started speaking almost as soon as he entered "Albus, I found something absolutely amazing down in the Chamber of Secrets. The plaque on it calls it the Dials of Chronos. According to the Plaque it has the ability to move a person both forward and backward through time. And from the looks of the thing, unlike a Time-turner, this thing has the potential to allow travel through months, possibly years instead of a few hours."

The painting of Albus was looking bemused as Harry raved. Finally it said "Ah, but what would the catch of such freedom be?" to which Harry looked at the Headmaster and said "It's a one-time deal." The painting of the former headmaster nodded thoughtfully and said, "What then do you propose to do with these dials Harry?"

Harry started saying, "Truth be told, I haven't really thought it out. But I was thinking, if these dials are really as powerful as all that, then it is possible that I could go back and stop all this wanton destruction before it had a chance of ever actually starting."

To which Albus nodded again and said "That is one possibility. Of course if you do that, the question that arises, Is at what point do you go back to? And will you return in the body of your younger self, or will you keep your own unique body and be able to act autonomously from your younger self? Of course if the latter is true, you have to understand that Ginevra Weasely will forever be out of your reach, that your friends may not recognize you, and that your family will still be gone."

Harry sighed and said, "Yes, this is true I suppose, but at the same time, I could bring this time periods Deathly Hallows back with me, assuming I can find the Resurrection Stone, and thereby have two sets of them in existence. Which would give us a huge advantage when fighting Voldemort, and then there is the added benefit that technically I am my own blood relative. So technically, my Mother's Blood Wards would be in effect on any house I own thereby allowing the version of me from that time to live with me, instead of with the Dursleys."

It was the Headmaster's turn to start, "I admit Harry; that is something I did not expect. And honestly, something I would not recommend. According to some theories of Temporal Mechanics, most notably the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, if the two of you were to come into contact, it could potentially cause a Temporal Paradox."

Harry started laughing "Professor, I didn't know you watched Doctor Who?" to which the older Professor gave a scowl. And Harry elaborated "Professor, that theory is entirely fictional, and had been made up by the people who designed the Muggle Television Serial Doctor Who. This is why the rules about Time-Turner use have always bugged me. Those rules were clearly made by someone who watches Muggle Television."

Albus sighed and said "I made those rules." To which Harry laughed uproariously.

"It may be futile, but I had hoped I could establish myself within the House of Potter. Unfortunately since this is a One-Time Use item there is no way to actually carry that out without going so far back into the past as to border on the useless. Unless…" Harry went off and was mumbling to himself for a few minutes while the headmaster looked on.

"That device calls itself the Dials of Chronos. Chronos is one of many names for the God of Time. And isn't there a saying 'In the fullness of time, all things die'? So, if you think about it, in a way isn't Chronos just another name for the God of Death?" Harry asked

"Yes, I think you are right, Chronos could be interpreted as an embodiment of Death." The former headmaster said.

Harry continued "Which means what happens if I am wearing the Invisibility cloak, have the resurrection stone active, and use the Elder Wand to move the dials? Since I am Master of Death, and that device represents Death, would it possibly allow me to get two goes?"

"I am uncertain Harry, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the device would consider you to not be there for the duration of the first trip. Why? Where is it that you wish to go with your first trip?"

"It's probably best that I don't answer that question, because if I did, you would probably try to talk me out of it. As it is, I have a feeling I am going to have to spend a great deal of time searching for a stone in a hay stack."

Harry spent some time in the former Ministry researching spells that would allow him to understand the languages of people in the eras he wished to travel to.

With that said, Harry apparated out to the Tomb of Albus Dumbledore. One of the other things that had remained undisturbed by the battles raging in the surroundings though in the Tombs case that was by Harry using the Elder Wand to erect massively powerful protections for it, and then placing the Elder Wand itself inside the Tomb and sealing it up with his Phoenix Feather Wand.

It was here then, that the Phoenix Feather Wand, the one key to the wards on the Tomb, finally dispelled those wards and opened the tomb. Harry withdrew the Elder Wand. Where he was going, he would need this Wand. The Wand sang in his hands, knowing its proper master again, but it was a sorrowful song after having been deprived its masters company for so long.

He then apparated again, this time traveling to the once Forbidden Forest. The Forest was no longer forbidden of course as there were no longer students for whom it needed to be forbidden. Harry lifted the Elder Wand and in practiced strokes said "Accio Maxima Resurrection Stone." It took a few minutes, but the spell was powerful enough and the wand itself was part of the same set as the item being summoned, that the stone eventually landed in Harry's outstretched hand.

With the stone, cloak, and wand, he now had all three Deathly Hallows in his possession. He was now ready to make his first journey. This first Journey was the trickiest of course, if he didn't get it right, then everything that followed was going to be pointless. He apparated to the Dial Room in the Chambers of Secrets, donning the Cloak of Invisibility once he was there, and activating the Resurrection Stone, bringing forth the encouraging images of his friends and family, just as real now as on that day back during the Battle of Hogwarts. And finally he lifted the Elder Wand… but before he did anything, a voice rang out in the room…

"Welcome oh Harbinger of Death, to the Dials of Time. You are granted one extra journey over what the normal user would be allowed. Make good use of it."

Harry wasn't sure he liked the idea of being called the Harbinger of Death, but considering what he was about to do, he figured it was fitting. He wasn't sure when he needed to go to, only that it was back to the beginning. He lifted the Elder Wand and said "Take me to your Creator." as he channeled magic into it and directed it to turn the Dials.

* * *

The Dials had turned for what seemed like an eternity. But they were turning backwards instead of slowly forwards. And they were turning at an ungodly rate. Suddenly the Dials stopped turning, and the room bellowed "The Year is 1232 Anno Domini"

Harry suddenly remembered that Slytherin's Basilisk was still alive at this point in history, and he was no longer a parselmouth, but before he could do anything the room started hissing and the stone mouth opened allowing him to exit the room, the Basilisk while still in the room did not seem inclined to bother him in the least. His still being able to act wholly on his own, instead of having been blasted into particulate atoms, seems to confirm Albus' theory that he would stay a separate existence from his younger self if he were to travel to the time period in which he was attending Hogwarts. So that solves one problem at least. The next problem was getting out of the Chamber of Secrets. He should have researched when Apparation Wards had been installed at Hogwarts. Hermione of course could have told him right off the bat when that had happened, in fact so could Albus if he had bothered to stop and ask. Well, better to test it out now than to be stuck here. So he attempted to turn on the spot, and amazingly he found himself in what would become the Godric's Hollow he would come to know.

Now he had some work ahead of him. He had to find the Peverell Brothers and make sure they met Death. Even if that meant he had to stand in for the bastard. He also had the ulterior motive of wanting to see if he can do something to change the Pure Blood Mentality this far back in history. He didn't want to go all the way back the Founder's era to carry out it, but If there was a possibility to carry out change here in the time period of the Peverell's, then he was going to take it.

Harry, still wearing his invisibility cloak, walked to the inn at Godric's Hollow, and waited for someone to open the door, and then he headed inside. He walked along the edges, listening to people talk, until he noticed three men at a table talking to each other, one of them said "Ya, Antioch, ya be right, that bastard was sorely in need of a lesson." The smallest and more timmid of the men said "You guys didn't need to hit him with the Cruciatus." To which the strongest looking one said "'course we did. How else was he s'pposed to learn not to mess with Wizards."

It was at this instant that Harry remembered that this was long, long before the Statute of Secrecy. These men probably had no understanding of Muggle Rights. They could very easily believe that Muggles aren't even the same species as them, and they wouldn't be wholly inaccurate either, at least from their world view. In fact the Medieval Inquisition had only just begun a few decades ago, and the Spanish Inquisition wouldn't start for another couple hundred years. These guys probably have no comprehension just how dangerous Muggles actually are yet. And here Harry was, about to hand them the most powerful magical artifacts in the history of the world. Hermione would kill him if she knew what he was about to do.

Still, by comparison, these guys are so far removed from anything that happens. Actually now that he thought about it, Tom Riddle's family, the Gaunt's had the Resurrection Stone. They were descendants of both Slytherin and Cadmus Peverell. Ignotus Peverell was Harry's own ancestor. Was it possible then that Harry had descended from Slytherin in more ways than just his being a Horcrux to Voldemort?

Harry visualized a snake and whispered as quietly as he could trying to say something in Parseltongue, simply "Leave." Suddenly all three Peverell brothers looked to where he was standing. They didn't see anything there, which is unsurprising as there was to the best of their knowledge, nothing there. They shrugged, and stood up to leave. Harry Potter watched this and nodded 'well that confirms theory 2; I am a descendant of Slytherin. Guess I should pay more attention to the hissing castle next time.' Following the Peverell Brothers, Harry waited for them to exit the building and then promptly left while the door was still swinging shut.

He walked behind them a way as they were on their way home. Suddenly he had an idea, he pulled out the Elder Wand and said "Aquamenti Supernum" quietly and directed the river to appear in the path of the Peverell Brothers. The Brothers looked at one another surprised that such a river had appeared out of thin air. They all three drew their wands and began conjuring a bridge together. Harry for his part was smiling; they were playing right along with the script. As they crossed the bridge Harry apparated to the other side of the bridge and promptly removed the cloak from his head saying in as angry a voice as he could muster "SERIOUSLY? You three couldn't just swim across and drown? You had to create a bridge and walk across on dry land? Well, you've defeated Death. So what do you want in return?"

The three men looked at each other, then back at 'death' as Harry was calling himself; the eldest stepped forward and said "I want the most powerful wand in existence." Harry smiled and withdrew the Elder Wand and said, "Take it from me, if you can." The younger man looked delighted and drew his own wand, and shouted "EXPELIARMUS." The Elder Wand sailed out of Harry's hands and landed firmly in the young man's hands.

The second brother said "I wish for the power to recall others from death." Harry nodded and drew forth the resurrection stone and handed it to the young man. Then Harry looked at Ignotus and said "What then is it that you want?" to which Ignotus shyly looked up at 'Death' and said "I would ask for something which would allow me to go from here without being followed by you." Harry sighed and reluctantly removed the invisibility cloak from his shoulders handing it to Ignotus saying "Treat it always as a friend, and it will treat you kindly. Now to you all, I say, be kinder to the Muggles for they do not deserve a great deal of what Wizarding-kind is doing to them or what Wizarding-kind will ultimately do to them." And with that Harry Potter (aka Death) apparated away from Godric's Hollow, leaving the Peverell Brothers with their new prizes. Of course he knew the fate of the Peverell Brothers more or less having listened to Hermione read the Tales of Beedle the Bard over and over again. That didn't make it any harder to give them his prized possessions. Nor did it stop him from wondering where exactly those possessions had originally come from, seeing as how he had given them to the Peverell Brothers, and the Peverell Brothers were ultimately the source of all the stories about them. So where did they come from, and why did Hogwarts' chamber of secrets which was built centuries before the Peverell Brothers were even born recognize them?

Was it possible that Slytherin himself created them? Or is it also possible that there really is a God of Time overseeing everything that happens in the Wizarding world? Either way he wasn't getting any younger, and he still had to do a bit of manipulation if he was going to land safely in the Marauder Era.

So with that said, Harry apparated to what would hopefully one day become 12 Grimmwauld Place. What he found there stunned him beyond all recognition. The castle at 12 Grimmwauld Place was bordering on enormous. But the Muggles didn't seem to notice it at all. "Okay, so they gave an entire castle in the middle of bloody London a perception filter. That's even worse than what they did for Hogwarts and Diagon Alley."

Harry sighed and promptly walked into Grimmwauld Manor as he decided to call it for lack of a better term. Somehow his entrance did not set off the wards. 'Probably has something to do with Grandma Potter also being a Black, even if this is several hundred years before she was born.' Surprisingly the interior of the Manor wasn't all that difficult to navigate, and the servants didn't seem all that interested in him. He made his way to the room with the Black Family Tree and had been surprised to discover that it already portrayed people who wouldn't be born for several hundred years, including Sirius, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa. The only difference was a complete lack of scorch marks. Smiling to himself, Harry drew forth the Phoenix Wand, and cast "damnum perpetuo libera!" He then exited the castle knowing that what he had just done would frustrate the House of Black to no end for the rest of time.

With that done, Harry apparates to the nearest Muggle Meat Market, conjures some muggle currency and promptly buys about 5000 pounds of meat which he promptly shrinks, while listening to screams of "WITCH! WITCH! WITCH!" before they could call the bloody authorities Harry promptly Apparates again this time landing back in the Chambers of Secrets. Now that he knows he is a Parselmouth he calls out in Parseltongue "Sssso um… whatssss your name?"

To which the Basilisk replies "Bolla" Harry smirks thinking 'fitting. Guess Slytherin was Albanian then.' "Well Bolla, I have about 5,000 pounds of meat here for you, I will let you have it on the condition that you keep your eyessss closssed while you're out here and that you don't go up into the casssstle proper."

Bolla hisses slightly and replies "Ssssems fair." The gigantic snake slithered out of the clock room and into the Chamber proper. Harry undid the shrinking charm on the meat and said "Thisss isss all for you. I don't want you to get too horribly hungry, though I will be gone a very long time, a couple hundred yearsss at the leassst. my name isss Harry James Potter. Will you remember that for me?"

The snake nodded its head while eating quietly. "I need to warn you that about 710 yearsss from now, a vicioussssly cruel young man will come to the sssschool and open the chamber. I highly recommend you do not lisssten to a word he hassss to ssssay, unlessss you want to be the caussse of the ssschool sssshutting down permanently? Hissss name isss Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. and he will be the instigator of one of the bloodiessst partsss of Wizarding hissstory. He will ssspout ideasss sssimilar to what Sssalazar held, but he will kill purebloodsss just asss easssily asss he would kill muggle-bornsss. And he himssself isss a half-blood, though he would never admit it to anyone."

For her part Bolla nodded her assent, turning to Harry and saying "Harry Potter doesss not wish to kill the Mudbloodsss then?" Harry had been taken aback by her question but shock his head "No, I think that both the Muggle-born and the Wizard-Born need to learn to live together in peace." The Snake nodded agreement "Death comessss to easssily to you humanssss"

Harry almost burst into tears at that admission, but held it back he said to Bolla "I really need to get going, I have a playdate about 745 yearssss from now. I hope to ssssee you ssssafe on the other sssside, and I promise to get you lotssss of food, but no humanssss assss ssssoon assss I can."

With that Harry stood up, and apparated to the clock room, the room chimed "You are no longer the Harbinger of Death. You have one trip in this room remaining." Harry knew it to be true, and willed the room to take him to the year 1977 A.D. as he began turning the dials with his Phoenix Feather Wand...

****CRACKOOOMMM!****

Harry felt the noise more than he heard it. Suddenly he was spiraling through time in an uncontrolled flight, he had no idea where he was going to end up, but he highly doubted it was going to deposit him in 1977 the last year of his Parents Hogwarts Experience….

* * *

**A/N:** So I have been reading a lot of Peggy Sue style fics set in the Harry Potter universe. And they got me thinking, what would happen if Harry Potter was set up to do a Peggy Sue scenario, and actually do it right… but then all of a sudden something goes severely wrong and the time travel device he was using BREAKS? Yeah, I am doing that.


	2. What did you say your name was?

**Disclaimer —** The world of Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and various publishers, the films are owned by Warner Brothers Studios. I make no claim to ownership of these properties. I am merely playing in their backyard whilst I get these ideas out of my head. Please note, I am an American, I do not have a full grasp of British slang, and will very likely not be able to do justice to it.

* * *

*Rap**Rap**Rap*

That was the first sound that Harry James Potter heard upon landing in a room decked out with Chudley Cannons posters. For one awful second Harry thought he had arrived back at the Burrow, but then something happened that changed his opinion drastically, and, in the process, brought his world crashing down around him.

"Wake up James, you're going to be late for your first day at Hogwarts at this rate." A woman's voice said on the other side of the door to the room which Harry could now clearly see was not Ron's.

Harry sat bolt upright, looking around the room for a second time, sure enough there were Chudley Cannons Posters, but they featured different players than the ones in Ron's room back at the Burrow. He looked for this James person, not finding the subject of his search he quickly frowned realizing that he was the only one in the room.

Struggling out of the bed he was sitting in and went over to the closet, he found that there was a dressing mirror in it. When he looked in it he received a shock that scared him half to death. He was looking at an exact duplicate of himself at age eleven, only without the famous scar that had become such an important part of his life. Not to mention that his eyes weren't the green shade of his mother's eyes anymore. Since the woman's voice had called out to James, the only conclusion that the now shell shocked Harry could come up with is that he had somehow ended up inside of the body of his formerly deceased father. With that conclusion in mind, he realized that Harry James Potter had officially become James 'Prongs' Potter.

"Bloody Hell. I wanted to influence his life, not live it." Harry said with a groan. This was problematic, originally Harry had wanted to come back in time, confide in Dumbledore about what was going on, help him shore up defenses on James and Lily's home and ensure that Wormtail never became the Potter's Secret-Keeper. Now he had to get Lily to fall in love with him, convince Snape to hate him, while somehow making it so Snape remains in love with Lily, convince Sirius to be the Potter's Secret-Keeper, and do all of this without letting on that he was from the future. This was going to be a nightmare to pull off, especially since he had never really mastered Occlumency.

Going over to his father's trunk, Harry opened it and started sorting through things. He wanted to be sure that he had the one tool that would be indispensable during the coming years. Seeing as how he went through all the trouble to ensure that the three brothers had them, finally he found the silvery almost fluid like material of the invisibility cloak. This magical device would allow him to move almost undetected throughout the school no matter what. He knew that he was at the mercy of time, and that he likely wasn't going to be able to affect the changes that needed to be accomplished perfectly, especially since he only ever really knew a small amount about the lives of his parents and their friends. But hopefully he will be able to create the changes necessary to form the best possible future for his friends. "I am a Gryffindor after all. And if I don't try to do this to the best of my abilities, I will very likely regret it in the long run." Once he had determined that he had everything that he would need, he replaced all of the stuff he had removed from his trunk, and closed it. He then began the process of carrying his trunk down the stairs.

* * *

Upon arriving downstairs, Harry was startled to run into a woman who uncannily resembled Bellatrix Lestrange. In an instant Harry's wand was drawn and pointed at her. The surprised look she gave him however, caught him off guard – and he was even more disconcerted when a man who looked like an older version of himself walked into the room, gave him a sharp look, and said sternly, "James, how dare you point your wand at your mother. Put it down this instant."

Abruptly Harry realized that he was looking at his grandmother and grandfather – that was to say, his current body's mother and father. Did that mean that he was more closely related to the Blacks than he had initially thought? He knew there was a Dorea Black on the Black Family tree who had married a Charlus Potter, was it possible that these were they? Dorea Black, if Harry recalled correctly had died in 1977 or 1978. Harry had originally intended to arrive at the start of 1978, but it seemed that he had actually arrived on the day of his father's sorting, which meant that this was 1971. This meant that he had between six and seven years to get to know his own grandparents. To make matters worse, they already knew James Potter intimately, and they probably wouldn't be fooled by anything he has to say.

Harry sighed and said "I don't suppose you two know Occlumency?" his grandparents started, glanced at each other, and raised their eyebrows.

"James, if this is another of your pranks..." Harry's grandfather started to say angrily, but his wife stopped him by placing a restraining hand on his shoulder.

She then said "James, you know very well that we can perform Occlumency. We have afterall been teaching you how to perform it for the past two years now. It is also incredibly rude of you to refer to your parents in such an informal manner as 'you two' even if the question is intended as some sort of prank. All of that said, I would be very interested in finding out exactly why you want to know whether we can perform Occlumency and why you thought it a good idea to refer to us in such an informal manner."

Harry was startled at the small lecture he just received "Well, I only asked because I have a really, really long story to tell both of you, and I don't know whether you are going to believe me or not. But either way, I really don't want you to hear this story without being able to protect it from inquisitive individuals." Harry explained

Both parents looked at each other with a bit of confusion and his grandfather said, "Perhaps you ought to wait until the Christmas Holidays to tell us, while we do want to know what is on your mind, we are running late as it is; if we don't leave now, we will never make it to Kings Cross Station in time for you to get on the Hogwarts Express."

Harry/James nodded and grabbed his Trunk, while his grandfather walked up to him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. They waited for his grandmother to Apparate, then a moment later Harry felt his grandfather's arm twisting away, in an effort to stay rooted to his grandfather, Harry brought his free hand up and clamped it down on his hand a moment before he felt it disappear from his body. In that same instant he clamped his other hand tightly around the handle of his trunk, ensuring that it too followed them along the transit through space. He felt the compression from all sides that told him he was definitely apparating, unable to breathe, and feeling as if there were iron bands against him. He hadn't felt this uncomfortable while Apparating since his 6th year of Hogwarts as Harry Potter, when Dumbledore himself took him from the London Underground to Professor Slughorn's borrowed residence.

* * *

After squeezing through the vortices of space, Harry and his grandfather reappeared in a bustling and crowded King's Cross Station. One of the first things that Harry noticed was a blond woman who looked like a younger version of Narcissa Malfoy boarding the forward train; he smiled slightly when he saw a girl that looked like Tonks (in her natural state) boarding the same train. He also frowned somewhat when he noticed Lucius Malfoy boarding the prefects compartment; this was going to be a hellish first year at Hogwarts if Lucius was a prefect.

While he was thinking that, he heard a whoop and a shout coming from behind him "Oi, Potter!" There was no way in a thousand years Harry would ever forget the individual to whom that voice belonged. Grinning from ear to ear he turned around and saw Sirius Black grinning just as broadly at him.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in?" Harry said with a smile on his face grabbing Sirius around the neck and giving him a noogie.

Sirius gave Harry a confused look not quite sure how a cat would drag him in, until Harry delivered the noogie; then he realized that the other boy had been teasing him. "Shall we load our things?" he asked.

Harry thought for a moment, then cast a glance around the crowded platform. He soon caught sight of who he was looking for; with a smile, he said "You start with that, I think I'm going to go introduce myself to someone."

Sirius shrugged and said "Yeah sure. But only if you promise to introduce me to her later," punching his friend in the shoulder with a sly grin.

Harry for his part smiled and said "What makes you think it's a 'she'?" to his former godfather. To which Sirius guffawed like there was no tomorrow.

As Harry walked over to another first year, he overheard a woman saying goodbye to her children who were almost all boarding the Express "Now Anna you promise to mind your Sister. And Lindsay, make sure that other girls don't go making fun of your sister, the way that Olive Hornby used to do to me." In response to this two younger girls said "Yes Aunt Myrtle, we know, we know. You've only told us this half a dozen times." Harry had to smile, it appeared that Moaning Myrtle managed to survive to adulthood, wonders never ceased.

He finally made it over to the first year he wanted to talk to, who was wearing a rather run down outfit and who had brown hair. "Hello there," he said, while offering his hand. "My name's James Potter. You look a little lost. Would you like to sit with me and my friend Sirius?"

The boy looked up with a start "Um… yes. I-I s-suppose I would." The young boy started to say, clearly flustered. He then gains some composure, schooling his features and continues, "My name is Remus by the way. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Excellent." Harry said, pointing Remus Lupin in the direction of the cabin that they would be riding in. "Sirius and I have been friends for a long time. I am sure you and he will get along famously."

As the two of them made their way back to where Sirius and Mr. Potter were busy loading the boys trunks onto the rear cabin, Harry saw something that made him stop in his tracks, the oh so familiar greasy hair of Severus Snape followed by a flash of red hair. "Mum," He whispered inadvertently.

Remus' sharp were-lupine ears caught the whisper. "Pardon?" He said, following Harry's gaze.

James' face flushed a deep Crimson as he realized what he had said. "Sorry, nothing. Come on let's go."

Harry then guided Remus up to his grandfather, grandmother, and Sirius. He introduced Remus to his pseudo-parents and in the process learned that they were indeed Dorea Potter (née Black) and Charlus Potter. Once introductions were taken care of, he helped Remus load his trunk onto the train car. With that out of the way, he hesitantly hugged his pseudo-parents goodbye and boarded the train followed by Sirius and Remus.

* * *

Once they were in their compartment and after the train had started pulling away, Sirius and Remus began reclining in their seats. Harry however immediately drew his wand, went to the compartment door, closed it, and tapped the door with his wand saying "Colloportus Tertio Crinem." He knew that the standard locking spell could be overcome by just about any well-read first year. The Third Lock however was more difficult to overcome, and probably only a teacher or seventh year who has been apprenticed would be able to manage it. He then cast another charm, this one to allow their conversation to remain unheard; he pointed his wand first at himself, then at Sirius, and Remus, while chanting the word "Muffliato" three times.

Remus looked like he was going to be sick as Harry brandished his father's wand at him. Meanwhile Sirius had this big goofy grin on his face like he thought Harry had pulled the best prank ever. Truth be told, in many ways, perhaps he had.

Sighing Harry sat down opposite the two boys and said "Okay, Sirius I imagine you already know Occlumency, right?"

Sirius frowned at this question and said "Of course I can do Occlumency. But you've known that for years. Why?"

Harry ignored Sirius for the moment and looked over at Remus who had a confused look on his face, Harry sighed again and asked "Remus, do you by chance know Occlumency?" To which the younger version of his old defense teacher simply shook his head in the negative. "Okay then. I suppose we will need to teach you Occlumency then Remus. It has come to my attention that Headmaster Dumbledore happens to be a Legilemens."

Sirius screwed up his face and said "Really? That's going to make pranking him harder. At least you and I are Occlumens already."

Harry shrugged and said "Yeah, about that. I kind of forgot how to do Occlumency for the most part. So I am going to have to relearn everything. Hopefully it will be easier for me this time around. That said, I would recommend that Remus and I avoid looking Professor Dumbledore in the eyes."

Remus nodded, as did Sirius – who, however, was looking somewhat sceptical. "How'd you go and forget your Occlumency?"

"Same way I forgot who my Parents were I suppose." This earned Harry a sharp look from Remus and a guffaw from Sirius.

"Okay, you're going to have to explain that one." Remus said with a look on his face that seemed to hint that he was beginning to doubt whether being in this compartment with a loon was such a good idea.

"Okay, I suppose I owe you that much. Sirius you won't believe this. And Remus you're going to find it hard to believe. But what I am about to tell you is going to require you both to make extra efforts to not look Professor Dumbledore and at least one, possibly two other people in the eyes." Harry explained.

Sirius and Remus nodded and looked at Harry intently, waiting for him to continue. Harry raised his Wand and said "I, Harry James Potter, swear upon my magic that what I am about to speak is the truth to the best of my knowledge." As he finished the tip of his wand lit up and illuminated the cabin.

No sooner had it ceased than Sirius was screaming at the top of his lungs "James, are you bloody insane? You just lost all of your magic, because you swore on a false name!"

Harry waved his wand at Sirius saying "Balbutio Balo." Sirius' tirade was promptly cut off as he began speaking in angry gibberish, and Harry permitted himself a smile. "Suffice to say, I clearly still have magic. Now will you settle down, Sirius, so I can explain? And then maybe I will take the Babbling Hex off of you." Remus chuckled at this, while Sirius, still clearly angry, sat down and looked impatiently at Harry.

"As I was saying, my name is Harry James Potter, and although I look exactly like James Potter, I am actually from the future. I won't say exactly where in the future I am from, but I am from soon enough to know a significant amount about what is going to happen in the next few years. And yes, I am related to James.

"Unfortunately my mode of time travel appears to have broken, causing me to merge bodies with James. This was not my original intention. I am now forced to live James' life to the best of my ability. It would be nice if I could count on the two of you as accomplices in my efforts to save the Wizarding World."

Once he had finished explaining everything he reversed the Babbling Hex on Sirius, who now looked intrigued by Harry "So. You're a traveler in time, who's come from the future to save the Wizarding World? Save it from what exactly?"

Harry grimaced and said "The single most evil Dark Lord to ever exist, Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. also known as Lord Voldemort."

Sirius laughed, "So you're playing a prank on a Dark Lord? Count me in!"

Harry turned his attention to Remus who had listened to Harry's whole explanation in silence waiting to see what his future Defense Professor had to say. Remus' response came out slowly but in measured tones. "I really shouldn't be doing this, but I suppose it is better to join you than to join the Dark Lord who will inevitably want to have me on his side considering…"

"Considering you're a Werewolf? Yes he will want you on his side, and it would be far better for you to be on our side than on his. I knew you in my future; you don't have the killer nature of some of the werewolves he is going to recruit. You would be far happier on the side of good than you would ever be on the side of evil." Harry said.

Remus nodded having accepted the explanation.

Several hours later, Remus looked out the window, and remarked "It's getting dark; we should probably get changed for the Opening Feast."

Harry looked outside and agreed that they were going to be in Hogsmeade very soon. The three of them began changing as the train began slowing down. Once Harry had changed, he removed the security spells he had placed on the compartment.

* * *

The train finally arrived in Hogsmeade, and the train carriages that the various students were riding in magically opened to the platform. Once on the platform, as Harry would have expected in his own time, Rubeus Hagrid was calling "Firs' years over here" to all of the new students. Harry guided his friends to the Half-Giant.

Once in front of the towering man, Sirius gave the towering gamekeeper a flippant, "Howdy," and Remus simply stared at the man in unabashed amazement. Harry for his part smiled up at the colossal man and said "All right, Hagrid?"

Hagrid looked confused at being addressed by one of the First Years, but simply nodded. "Alrigh' ye youngins, we'll be on the boats, this way," he said, and led the first years to the boats.

Of course Harry, Sirius, and Remus got in a boat together. One other boy got into the boat with them, but fortunately it wasn't Peter Pettigrew. He was in a different boat along with Snape, and Lily.

The boat ride was rather pleasant – more pleasant, certainly than it would have been in the rain. In short order they had docked and were walking up the huge stone steps to the castle's entry hall, where they were met by none other than Minerva McGonagall. She looked much younger now than Harry remembered from his time, but she still looked just as stern as she ever had. Meanwhile Hagrid departed from them and made his way into the main feast hall. Which was odd from Harry's recollection he had never normally been at the Opening Feasts other than in the official capacity of escorting the first years into the school.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few moments I will take you into the Great Hall where you will join your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your Houses. Your House will be like your family while you are here at Hogwarts. Do well here and you will earn your House points. Any rule breaking will lose your House points. The House with the most points at the end of the year will be awarded the House Cup. Now please wait here a moment while I see if the other students are ready."

With that Minerva left the entry hall and entered the Great Hall through a side door. Harry for his part turned to survey the new students. The people he had expected to see were there, along with several who were new to him and one whom he should have guessed would be there. Xenophilius Lovegood was standing at a nearby suit of armor gazing up at the cobwebs present near its visor. He looked remarkably like a male version of Luna would have standing there. Harry never really known when Xenophilius had attended Hogwarts, but the same year as the Marauders was as good a time as any.

While he was thinking that he heard a clacking sound coming from the ceiling. He looked up just in time to see Peeves clapping several Erasers together over the heads of all of the students, Harry's Wand was in his hand instantaneously and he immediately shouted "Protego Maximus" directing the shield over the heads of all of the students. This caused the eraser dust to fall harmlessly on the shield and land on the ground at either end of the entry hall. Peeves looked down at him and said "Ickle Firsties doing spells they shouldn't do, no fair." As soon as Peeves said it, Harry realized his mistake. His battle honed reflexes had kicked in sensing a threat, a minor threat admittedly, but Peeves was still a threat (for all he knew those erasers could have had itching powder or worse in them), and reacted with a spell that would ensure that none of the students got hit with whatever was in those erasers. Unfortunately this forced him to demonstrate wanded magic that was at least three years more advanced than a First Year should know. Remus was looking at him with awe. Sirius was looking at him with an impressed grin. Snape was looking at him with a scowl. Lily wasn't looking at him at all. Xenophilius for his part was looking at the dust that was now falling on the ground just to his left.

Minerva came back right about this time, saw Peeves overhead, and noticed the Protego Shield. She cast her eyes over the students and saw that Harry's wand was out. She looked at Harry with a glimmer in her eyes and said "Wherever did you learn to do that spell Mr Potter?"

Harry shrugged and said "I had excellent tutors." It was arguably true; what he didn't say was that most of those 'tutors' would teach at that school in a decade or two.

Minerva smiled very tightly and said "Well then, if you would all follow me, the Sorting awaits." She led them into the Great Hall. Many of the first years looked horribly nervous. For his part Harry got a mild shock when he noticed Hagrid already sitting in the seat usually assigned to the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, but otherwise Harry felt confident, having already gone through one Sorting before.

Minerva stopped before a stool with a hat on it. She had the student's line up in a row before the stool as she picked up a sheet of parchment "As I call your name out you will come up, place this hat on your head, and be sorted. Once that is done, you will promptly remove the hat and go to your House table indicated by the banner over the table. Slytherin's symbol is the snake and its colors are Green and Silver. Hufflepuff is the badger; its colors are Yellow and Black. Ravenclaw is the Eagle; its colors are Blue and Bronze. And Gryffindor is the Lion; and its colors are Crimson, and Gold." She then awaited the Sorting Hats song…

_"A Little under a millennia ago  
When hats like me were common place,  
There were four Wizards of great strength.  
Strong Gryffindor, his courage saw him through.  
Wise Ravenclaw, her knowledge unrivaled then.  
Loyal Hufflepuff, who tended all she saw.  
Ambitious Slytherin, canny till the end.  
They shared a thought, a desire, a yearning,  
They initiated the greatest machination.  
To teach young sorcerers,  
So Hogwarts School Began. _

_Each of these four Wizards Grand,  
Did gather those with like-minded goals  
For each did have different morals and virtues  
That set them slightly apart  
In Gryffindor those with daring nerve  
Would be the crème de la crème  
In Ravenclaw, the quick-witted  
Were valued above the rest  
In Hufflepuff those with steadfast resolve  
Would find their truest friends  
And in resourceful Slytherin  
Those who seek the skies  
will find their home at last. _

_While still living in this castle here  
They could pick their worthy ones  
From the Students who would come.  
The question'twas how to pick  
When all four were dead and had gone. _

_The four dreamed up a plan,  
And Gryffindor volunteered his hat  
That Ravenclaw could enchant it  
With intellect unrivaled in common hats  
This allowed the Sorting Hat  
to preside for all to come. _

_So put me on and let me see,  
Just where it is you belong."_

After the hat had finished its song and everyone was done clapping, Minerva began listing the students by name alphabetically. Among the first students called, Adrian Bartholomew became the first Ravenclaw. After him, Sirius Black was called. There was noticeable whispering at the Slytherin table, as many people were obviously expecting him to become the first Slytherin of the evening. Knowing how differently it would turn out, Harry found it difficult not to hide a snicker. After what seemed like five minutes the Sorting Hat finally shouted "Gryffindor!" provoking noticeable sneers at the Slytherin table, and cheers of affirmation from the Gryffindor table.

Several names went by, most of which Harry didn't know from his previous timeline. Hopefully that would change with his time here, at least with the ones who didn't end up becoming death eaters. However after a short time McGonagall called "Evans, Lily," to which a very shy looking girl, who looked remarkably like Ginny Weasely at this age, but then not so much like Ginny that Harry would mistake her for Ginny, especially since this girl had luminescent green eyes, while Ginny had brown eyes instead, walked up to the chair, picked up the Sorting Hat and placed it on her head, waiting for it to begin sorting her. After only a few seconds the Hat shouted "Gryffindor!"

A few more names went by and Xenophilius Lovegood was placed into Ravenclaw, which was unsurprising given where his daughter had ended up, Harry only hoped Xeno's fate in school would end up less disastrous than Luna's last years of School during the War had been. The Carrows had been especially vindictive. Actually, now that he was thinking about it. Harry glanced over to the Slytherin Table. Yep, no doubt about it, that was Alecto and Amycus Carrow sitting a few seats over from Lucious Malfoy. This day just kept getting better. 'At least Bellatrix isn't here. Thank the almighty for small mercies.'

Remus Lupin was the next of the Marauders to be called up to the Sorting Hat. He ended up being under the Hat for a good eight minutes he seemed to be holding an argument with the Sorting Hat on the merits of each House. Harry smiled at that thought. Leave it to his best Defence Professor to come up with a long winded argument for why he belonged or didn't belong in any given house. At last the argument seemed to come to an end and the Sorting Hat yelled "Gryffindor!" as well it should.

Minerva called "Pettigrew, Peter," who walked up clumsily and placed the hat onto his head. After only a few seconds the word "Slytherin!" was shouted by the Hat, and the Slytherin table looked at the boy with some disgust. Harry sighed, he had wondered what would happen to Wormtail if he had prevented him from making the acquaintance of any of the Marauders on the train ride to Hogwarts. Apparently his natural inclination was towards Slytherin House. That was good; it meant that there was no way the slimy git was going to worm his way into a friendship with the Marauders. Lily might be another matter entirely, especially since she was probably already best friends with Snape, who is a guy who was custom built for Slytherin.

Now it was his turn, he hadn't thought there would be many names between Pettigrew and Potter, and there weren't. Minerva called "Potter, James," and he walked up, picked up the Hat and placed it on his head, seating himself on the stool.

* * *

'Well, this is unusual. I could have sworn I heard Minerva call for a James Potter. But you clearly think of yourself as Harry Potter.' The Hat thought into Harry's mind.  
To which Harry thought back 'I don't suppose you would chalk it up to the world's best prank ever?'

The Hat chuckled mentally and said 'Calling this a prank is a bit of an understatement don't you think? For one thing you created a Grandfather Paradox using a time machine that I wasn't even aware existed until this moment. You then proceeded, in all likelihood, to break said time machine when traveling to this time period and ended up stuck in your father's body. This is a serious matter young man.'

Harry sighed and thought 'It will be worth it if I can defeat Tom before he really gains any momentum."

It was the hat's turn to sigh 'I will grant you that stopping Tom, based on what you have in your memories, and certain other things of which I have become aware, sounds like a laudable goal. But are you really sure that telling these Marauders of yours the secret of your identity was such a good idea?'

Harry chuckled 'Oh come off it, you've just seen inside Sirius and Remus' minds. Are you telling me they aren't trustworthy? And it's not like I told Pettigrew anything. I'm not as stupid as the person who originally occupied this body I'll have you know.'

Harry seemed to feel the hat nod, 'fair enough. Very well, where would you like to be Sorted? Since it is clear you fully intend to be Sorted again, and I can't exactly decide this for you. I will however comment that everything you have done up till now strikes me as rather Slytherin.'

Harry smiled 'On the contrary, I used an unknown time travel device which I only partially understood to travel over a thousand years in total; nearly died when it broke; and told two people a potentially history-altering secret. That speaks of astonishing bravery in my opinion. I also performed a bit of heroic recklessness at least once so far. Also, since Sirius and Remus were sorted into Gryffindor and they both know my secret, it would only really be sensible that I be allowed to join them in Gryffindor so that I can keep a closer eye on what they do with said knowledge. As such I would very much prefer to be placed in Gryffindor, Especially since that is where I feel most at home and where my friends will be.'

The Hat sighed and said 'Very well…' "Gryffindor!"

* * *

Harry took the Hat off and handed it to Minerva. He then made his way to a seat next to Lily Evans, smiling at her as he took the seat. Sirius pulled up next to him and gave him the thumbs up, while winking at Lily. She turned her nose up at them and promptly moved down towards where the Gryffindor prefects were seated. Harry shrugged helplessly to himself and looked at his two friends, whispering as softly as possible, "How long was I under the Hat?"

"Nearly ten minutes." Sirius said, patting Harry on the shoulder, "Must have been one heck of a conversation."

By this point Severus Snape had been Sorted into Slytherin, and the Sorting ended with some boy named Paul Stebbins who was Sorted into Hufflepuff.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry about this chapter taking me so long to write. I have finally found myself a beta for my fan fiction writing who has kindly volunteered to work on both HPDOT and the Dune d20 Fiction. As such it took me longer to write and get the writing reviewed. I also have other things I have been doing aside from just writing, such as attending a college class, and playing role playing games of my own.

I will probably be spending the next few chapters worth of my writing on HPDOT as I think I have kind of hit a stride of the HPDOT, and I kind of enjoy the concept more than I do the Dune d20. Unfortunately that means I may be neglecting my first Fan Fiction, The Won Initiative and the Kwisatz Haderach for a little while. I do plan on picking it up again eventually, I am just not sure when.

I would also like to note that I hit 5,526 words, before Author Notes on this chapter. That is a record for me when it comes to fictional writing. I hope you all enjoy the chapter. And special thanks to Qoheleth, my Beta Extraordinaire.


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